Jake Arrieta, Yu Darvish and others drawing interest from Brewers

Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported this morning that “the Brewers have set no limitations on the starting pitchers they are pursuing.” He went on to say that Milwaukee is in play for Jake Arrieta, Yu Darvish, Lance Lynn, and Alex Cobb.

Morosi’s report included “if you are an elite level pitcher, the Brewers are calling on you.”

This is a very interesting report because the Brewers are hardly ever linked to high-profile free agents. Also, it is important to note that Milwaukee has not had success when they have brought in these higher-level players. Here are the last three notable pitchers the Brewers have signed along with their stats while in Milwaukee:

Jeff Suppan: 29-34, 4.94 ERA

Kyle Lohse: 29-32, 4.12 ERA

Matt Garza: 26-39, 4.66 ERA

These are not stats that are satisfactory after signing a large contract. But, the Brewers are an up-and-coming team who won 86 games last year and could use more starting pitching. The club got breakout years from Chase Anderson and Jimmy Nelson, but Nelson has no timetable for his return after having shoulder surgery.

The bottom line is that the Brewers only have $32 million currently committed to players under contract, so they have money to spend. Adding one or two of the elite pitchers in this free agent class to a staff that already includes Jimmy Nelson, Chase Anderson and Zach Davies could make the Brewers a real threat in 2018.